Does combining a family trip with the chase for epic conditions make for a stressful holiday or enhance the experience. Klaas Voget has been making the journey to Chile for many years and the recent addition of his two small children hasn’t stopped his desire to score the perfect ride on Chile’s rugged Pacific coast. Read how he ensures his annual South American sojourn is happy days for all.
Life as a windsurf-dad isn’t easy. Juggling between kids, job, relationship - and then there is our addiction. Only a wind surfer understands why suddenly everything else becomes less urgent when the wind blows and the waves are pumping. Windsurfing can be the reason for fights, for frustration, for tears. When your partner makes plans for a nice family day and you get a call from one of your mates telling you it’s 4.5m weather and it’s mast high and cross-off, it’s challenging to stick to the family plan. If you do, you’re not good to be around, if you go sailing, you’re the bad guy leaving the family behind. It’s a disaster! It’s a fine line to walk if you drag your family on a windsurfing trip, but if you choose the right location you can enjoy family life and still score the most epic session.
FAMILY POINTS
As parents of two little boys, we are constantly in action. Everyone with kids knows what I’m talking about. As soon as one finally sleeps, the other one poops in his diapers, starts teething, has a bad stomach or is just in action mode! The quiet moments are rare. If you’re on a windsurf trip with little kids, your partner feels left alone with everything as soon as you go “do your thing”. Not enough sleep adds to the problem and things can escalate while you’re loading stuff into the car and your better half is trying to feed the crying baby.
The recipe for a good session without all the hate is collecting family points in the days prior to day X. With a good eye on the forecast you normally don’t get surprised by an epic day, usually these days can be tracked way in advance, so there’s some time to build up the family brownie points account and have the food supply under control before you head to the water. Of course this is easier in some places and more difficult in others.
THE PLACE
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 366 - June 2017 de Windsurf.
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Esta historia es de la edición Issue 366 - June 2017 de Windsurf.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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New School
Slingshot’s windsurfing brand manager, Wyatt Miller, has noticed that kids are drawn to playing with wings and puts forward an interesting case as to why he thinks this could help entice them and others into windsurfing.
Changes
Wave sailor Flo Jung reflects on our changed world during his lockdown in Germany.
THE LAST WAVE
Lockdown stirred the creative juices of reader Björn Alfthan, who peers into the future to present a fictional story set in the wild waves of Norway, five years from now.
STILL IN THE GAME
After a horrific fracture in his leg from a crashed aerial in 2018, Alessio Stillrich is back! John Carter talks to the highflyer from Gran Canaria about his move to the Simmer team, recovering from injury and how he learned to windsurf in Gran Canaria!
MOVE ON UP - GET ON THE FRONT FOOT
This month we look at how our front foot weighting can affect and improve different aspects of our main windsurfing moves.
SOUTH' KIPA
Nik tweaking it over home waters.
A NEW NORMAL
On a trip to La Tranche-sur-Mer in France last year, Tris Best estimated over 80% of the windsurfers were foiling. This summer in Portland Harbour, foiling activity has increased dramatically too he reports. With the market offering plenty of choice to recreational windfoilers, our test team check out some of the latest foil offerings.
TACKING – THE SEQUEL
Having given you time to practice, Harty concludes his tacking series by critiquing various tacking options, including the carve tack, as well as offering solutions to common slip-ups.
‘NO VAPOUR TRAILS TO SCAR THE SKY' *
Realising we may be about to enter an extraordinary period in our lives, Harty decided to keep a windsurf-centric lockdown diary. Here are some of his choice excerpts.
REDEMPTION DAY!
Renowned for its windsurfing and variety of spots to sail at, Kimmerdige Bay is a wave sailing jewel on the south coast of England. Timo Mullen gives a guide to its shores while reflecting on why a recent session there was a reminder that there is no place like home!
